The Adventures of Ishtar!

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Re: The Adventures of Ishtar!

Postby jrhcl2 » December 12th, 2012, 8:25 pm

mns_95125 wrote:
jrhcl2 wrote:So her making love with Paul make sense that it would cause Maria to remember who she really is!!


We don't actually know that. We see Paul wake up; we see that Maria has physically transformed into Ishtar. We don't know that anything has changed as far as her mind is concerned. The story might be even more interesting if Paul is faced with a disbelieving Maria Jones now 'trapped' in Ishtar's body. Imagine Maria trying to work out how to use Ishtar's powers to fight back against the villains, with no instruction manual, sort of like the Greatest American Hero.



Hello mns_95125!! Your right we don't know if anything has changed as far as her mind is concerned!! Judging by the look on her face from the cover!! But why did she transform into Ishtar, if Maria doesn't remember who she really is???
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Re: The Adventures of Ishtar!

Postby Mr. Cryptic » December 17th, 2012, 12:18 pm

I'm glad people are intrigued by this plot twist :) .

It's a little confusing, but Ishtar herself doesn't exactly "transform" in any substantial way. It's more that Ishtar gives off a a kind of vibe or aura that prevents other people from noticing that she looks like anyone else. I figure that face recognition is a complex cognitive activity, and Ishtar's mojo kind of disrupts it a little. When Ishtar is Maria Jones, the ring conceals that aura.
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Re: The Adventures of Ishtar!

Postby jrhcl2 » December 17th, 2012, 12:42 pm

Mr. Cryptic wrote:I'm glad people are intrigued by this plot twist :) .

It's a little confusing, but Ishtar herself doesn't exactly "transform" in any substantial way. It's more that Ishtar gives off a a kind of vibe or aura that prevents other people from noticing that she looks like anyone else. I figure that face recognition is a complex cognitive activity, and Ishtar's mojo kind of disrupts it a little. When Ishtar is Maria Jones, the ring conceals that aura.


Hello Mr. Cryptic!! Your right!! I'm kind of confused!! Can you explain that in a little more detail for us who are a little slow????? :? Does this mean that the ring is no longer concealing that aura?? Will everyone know Maria Jones is Ishtar or looks like Ishtar?? :shock: Are is Paul Barnes these only one who can see this?? Isn't these only real difference when Ishtar transformed into Maria Jones is her hair?! It shorter, the color is different and she wear a different hair style, other then that, there's really not much of a change!?
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Re: The Adventures of Ishtar!

Postby Mr. Cryptic » December 18th, 2012, 11:57 am

Yes, the only physical change when Ishtar changes from Maria to Ishtar is her hair. You can generally assume that when Ishtar has her Ishtar hair, she is not concealing her divine aura and people recognize her as Ishtar. When she has her Maria Jones hair (which has varied, but is generally a little less glamorous looking), that means she's concealing her aura and people won't recognize her as Ishtar.

Sorry that is confusing, but that is my way of justifying why no one recognizes Ishtar and Maria Jones as the same person, even though she doesn't wear a mask.

I've been kind of figuring that one limitation on Ishtar's magic is that she never shapeshifts herself to look different than she is. Since she's a love goddess, hiding her beauty goes against the nature of her divine powers. Likewise, she doesn't turn invisible either. The aura concealing thing is kind of a workaround in that it doesn't hide her appearance, just her identity.
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Re: The Adventures of Ishtar!

Postby Tecknophyle » December 19th, 2012, 12:25 am

Mr. Cryptic wrote:Yes, the only physical change when Ishtar changes from Maria to Ishtar is her hair. You can generally assume that when Ishtar has her Ishtar hair, she is not concealing her divine aura and people recognize her as Ishtar. When she has her Maria Jones hair (which has varied, but is generally a little less glamorous looking), that means she's concealing her aura and people won't recognize her as Ishtar.

Sorry that is confusing, but that is my way of justifying why no one recognizes Ishtar and Maria Jones as the same person, even though she doesn't wear a mask.

I've been kind of figuring that one limitation on Ishtar's magic is that she never shapeshifts herself to look different than she is. Since she's a love goddess, hiding her beauty goes against the nature of her divine powers. Likewise, she doesn't turn invisible either. The aura concealing thing is kind of a workaround in that it doesn't hide her appearance, just her identity.


What you're running into there is the same issue comics artists have had for years dealing with the Clark Kent/Superman thing. People have always made fun of the idea that a pair of glasses could fool anyone, and recent artists and writers (as well as the movies) have made the explanation more believable. Some of the same issues with Superman work for Ishtar.

1. The hero doesn't wear a mask. Like Superman, the public aware of Ishtar's origins: both are (essentially) non-humans from somewhere else, both have their powers naturally, there's nothing particularly secret about their heroic personas. As such, there's no particular reason to assume the hero has a secret identity, unlike, say, Batman. It's obvious he's hiding something, so people would be more on the lookout for people who could be Batman out of his costume.

2. One of the things Christopher Reeve demonstrated was that the same person could play Clark and Superman and really make them come across as two different people: tone of voice, way of speaking, posture, movement. These things are hard to show in a comic, so over the last few years they've had characters do things like Green Lantern commenting that Clark wears clothes two sizes too big and slouches, Martha Kent early on pointed out that he (as Clark) should never wear a tight t-shirt or anything else that made his physique obvious. So you can assume that Ishtar-as-Maria does the same sort of thing.

3. You go to work one day and notice that a co-worker looks like Tom Cruise. Do you assume (a) that he's really Tom Cruise incognito, or (b) boy, your co-worker Bob looks a lot like Tom Cruise, ain't that a hoot? Same thing. Clark looks somewhat like Superman. Maria looks somewhat like Ishtar. It happens. Consider Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley: the latter was cast in The Phantom Menace specifically because the casting director noticed how closely Knightley looked like Portman, thus they were able to conceal the reveal that there was a person acting as the Queen's double. When they were in costume, Portman's mother couldn't tell them apart on set. So it's not unbelievable that people don't connect Ishtar and Maria Jones since the latter doesn't run around in ridiculously revealing bikini and have the obvious sex appeal that a goddess of love would exhibit.

In the case of the story, the discovery came after her partner saw her hair change for no obvious reason, she was butt-naked, and sex was on his mind. It's much easier to make the realization in those circumstances, just as it would be if someone saw Clark Kent wearing a tight t-shirt and without his glasses suddenly demonstrating great strength (even if not superhuman).
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Re: The Adventures of Ishtar!

Postby mns_95125 » December 19th, 2012, 12:10 pm

A couple of counterpoints.

1) Maria Jones has pretty much blown the "never wear anything that makes her physique obvious" thing, what with that skintight black jumpsuit she wears on field assignments. And it's a pretty damn memorable physique!

2) Maria works in the same general organization as Ishtar, and thus the two have the 'same' co-workers. It isn't "boy, my co-worker Clark looks a lot like Superman", it's "boy, my co-worker Clark looks a lot like Superman from Accounting." (Shut up, you know what I mean.)
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Re: The Adventures of Ishtar!

Postby Mr. Cryptic » December 19th, 2012, 1:05 pm

All of your points are very correct, Tek. Some of them I've thought about myself. For example, I wasn't sure if I could pull off Brickhouse being held captive by her husband without her figuring out she was his wife. Like you mentioned, I just figured he decided it was more probable that this superheroine he has in his possession happens to look a lot like his wife, rather than that his wife is really a superheroine and hasn't told him. Granted, he is a supervillain and hasn't told her, but...um...whatever...

That did kind of trip me up in Phantom Menace. I knew that Padme and the Queen were one, based on what I had seen in the toys and promos, but I couldn't figure out at first that there were actually two actresses (with CGI its hard to know for sure). Kind of the reverse of the phenomenon we're talking about (In TPM there are two, but I thought they were one. With Ishtar,Superman,Wonder Woman, etc. there is one, but everyone thinks they are two.

Yes, I also figure that, like the modern Superman, most people don't figure that Ishtar has a secret Identity, since she wears no mask and her true identity is Ishtar/Inanna. For those close to her, like Paul Barnes, her magic gives her an extra level of security.

Your points are correct too, mns. Maria Jones generally dresses pretty sexy (the skintight jumpsuit is more revealing than her usual outfits, though :) ). I figure that she does act differently as Maria and as Ishtar (like Christopher Reeve), in addition to her magic.

When Maria Jones knew she was Ishtar, she would conceal how competent she was as Maria Jones to protect her identity. When her knowledge of Ishtar was blocked, she became a "female John Wayne" in Paul Barnes' words, since she wasn't trying to hide anything anymore (might be part of why she's wearing that jumpsuit :) ).

I thought it was hilarious in the Wonder Woman episode Mind Stealers from Outer Space when the aliens figured out that Diana Prince was Wonder Woman. They discovered her identity by using advanced alien technology to take two photographs...and look at them.
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Re: The Adventures of Ishtar!

Postby jrhcl2 » December 19th, 2012, 1:45 pm

Hello Mr. Cryptic!! I've been off for the last few days, don't have a lot to do!! Don't really want to do or go anywhere, it's Cold, want to stay in and keep warm!! Thank for answering my question, i do think i understand how Ishtar's magic keeps other from knowing she and Maria Jones are the same person. But that still leaves one question unanswered?? Since you stated Maria Jones doesn't know she's Ishtar and that she's not trying to hide anything anymore!! With her aggressive behavor, the way she dresses!! She's haven't known she was Ishtar for several weeks or maybe months now!! Even those she's been behaving and dressing more like her true self, Ishtar!! Even with that, she has still mantained her appear as Maria Jones,why? Why did Maria Jones change too Ishtar? Why did she reveal herself to Paul?? WHY?? WHY??
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Re: The Adventures of Ishtar!

Postby Tecknophyle » December 19th, 2012, 11:40 pm

Mr. Cryptic wrote:Your points are correct too, mns. Maria Jones generally dresses pretty sexy (the skintight jumpsuit is more revealing than her usual outfits, though :) ). I figure that she does act differently as Maria and as Ishtar (like Christopher Reeve), in addition to her magic.


The other thing to bear in mind is that this is a comic book universe and one of the standard rules of a comic book universe is that nearly all women, super-powered or not, have the Most Common Superpower. So if everyone is ridiculously attractive and proportioned, being so simply doesn't stand out.

Like a gag in Beverly Hills Cop 2 put it, Axel Foley tried to convince the LA police that he was on the track of the bad guy because a six-foot blonde worked for him (a tall blonde earlier being associated with the bad guy). The detectives pointed out that six foot blondes were not uncommon in California, so it didn't prove anything.
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Re: The Adventures of Ishtar!

Postby Mr. Cryptic » December 20th, 2012, 8:18 am

jrhcl2 wrote: Why did Maria Jones change too Ishtar? Why did she reveal herself to Paul?? WHY?? WHY??


I think you'll just have to keep reading. But you might note that it doesn't look like Maria intentionally revealed herself as Ishtar. It appears that she changed while sleeping.

Tecknophyle wrote:Like a gag in Beverly Hills Cop 2 put it, Axel Foley tried to convince the LA police that he was on the track of the bad guy because a six-foot blonde worked for him (a tall blonde earlier being associated with the bad guy). The detectives pointed out that six foot blondes were not uncommon in California, so it didn't prove anything.


I kind of had some fun in Ishtar Vs. Indeks when American Goddess/Ashlay Salvani observed that all the women in Metrobay have huge breasts, then she says she just feels above average there :) .
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Re: The Adventures of Ishtar!

Postby Hector2 » December 26th, 2012, 10:44 pm

Dear Mr. Cryptic:

Adventures Of Ishtar # 11 is so brief and sweet, I think there is no need to overanalyze it.

I only want to tell you that this is a genuine human emotion moment, and I hope Paul will not feel betrayed or freaked out.

I think Ishtar transformation is pure power of love ;)

Great work!
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Re: The Adventures of Ishtar!

Postby Mr. Cryptic » December 28th, 2012, 11:22 pm

Hector2 wrote:Dear Mr. Cryptic:

Adventures Of Ishtar # 11 is so brief and sweet, I think there is no need to overanalyze it.

I only want to tell you that this is a genuine human emotion moment, and I hope Paul will not feel betrayed or freaked out.

I think Ishtar transformation is pure power of love ;)

Great work!


What you say is pretty much how I felt when I conceived and crafted this update. I'm very pleased that what I was seeing was conveyed in the comic :) .
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Re: The Adventures of Ishtar!

Postby jrhcl2 » January 1st, 2013, 3:09 pm

Mr. Cryptic wrote:
Hector2 wrote:Dear Mr. Cryptic:

Adventures Of Ishtar # 11 is so brief and sweet, I think there is no need to overanalyze it.

I only want to tell you that this is a genuine human emotion moment, and I hope Paul will not feel betrayed or freaked out.

I think Ishtar transformation is pure power of love ;)

Great work!


What you say is pretty much how I felt when I conceived and crafted this update. I'm very pleased that what I was seeing was conveyed in the comic :) .


Hey Mr. Cryptic!! I have to give you credit!! I was wondering how or if you were going to be able to make Maria Jones/Ishtar and Paul Barnes love scene look or feel different than any of her other sexual encounters with her foes, her being under a spell, her suffering with a prana build-up or her being overwhelmed with her prana in Rob case. But you did pull it off!! I think Hector hit it right on the nail!! Two human being connecting on an emotion level, not just physical pleasure!! Give yourself a big pat on the back!! Great Job!! It will interesting to see if them making love changes their relationship?? Will Ishtar be able to put this encounter behind her like she's done so many times in the past? How deep are Ishtar feelings for Paul?? were her fears warranted??
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Re: The Adventures of Ishtar!

Postby Mr. Cryptic » February 28th, 2013, 8:46 am

With Ishtar missing and Victory City's most powerful heroines enslaved by Lord Prospero, the Triskelion Guild has invaded and conquered the city!
Is their any hope that the city can be saved!?

Find out in the Adventures of Ishtar #12, in the Member's Section now!

http://www.mccomix.com/members/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=33518

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Re: The Adventures of Ishtar!

Postby MacroLass » February 28th, 2013, 2:55 pm

Fixed the cover link for ya, Mr. Cryptic. ;)
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